Waste Reduction and Recycling
The first ever record of a society taking care of their waste was during 500 b.c. in Athens, Greece. Laws made it unlawful to dispose of waste within one mile of the city walls and in the city. In 1031 Japan started to recycle waste/used paper by first washing the paper into a pulp then adding pressure to the pulp turning them into sheets of pulp, this helps remove some water, finally they dry and cut the pulp to become paper. In 1879 New York City created a material recovery where different materials were sorted and put into grades to be recycled. In 1904 the first aluminum can recycling plant opened. In 1981 Woodbury, New Jersey was the first city in the United States to mandate recycling fining people who did not follow the guideline. The most recent major law passed in 2015 was the ban of plastic bags in California.
In order to reduce waste in the manufacturing process companies must adapt to the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen meaning always improving. The philosophy of Kaizen makes the manufacturing process more efficient and reduces waste by removing inefficiencies, saving time. Kaizen is based of multiple principals a few of which are; work as a team, good processes create good results, speak with data mange with facts and many other processes. Kaizens main point is to have small changes that can create a big impact over time.
Waste Hierarchy is a set of priorities of what is the most desired outcome is, most efficient, and it is used to